Riverbank State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

built on top of a sewage treatment facility on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

, in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It was opened in 1993. On September 5, 2017, it was renamed Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park, after a longtime

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

member who represented the surrounding area.

Park facilities

Welcome_Sign_at_Riverbank_State_Park_2013

Riverbank State Park was designed by Dattner Architects and Abel Bainnson Butz Landscape Architects and opened May 27, 1993. The original idea for a park atop the sewage plant was

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

's, who proposed a series of decorative fountains and a reflecting pool. Community opposition forced further proposals for a park design that was useful to the surrounding community. Gruzen Architects made a design proposal in 1969, and Bond Ryder/Lawrence Halprin made another proposal in 1973-1975. Some iterations of the design included fully decking over the West Side Highway to create a continuous park. All of these designs were unfeasible, however, due to cost. Dattner Architects was formally selected in 1980 for the project, after a series of community engagements 1978-1980. leading to a design phase 1980-1988. Some aspects of the plan had to be simplified due to a 13% budget cut in 1989. The design was inspired by Japanese rooftop facilities, where a similar concept was used for Ochiai Water Reclamation Center and Ochiai Chuo Park. It is located on the

Henry Hudson Parkway The Henry Hudson Parkway is a parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is in Manhattan at 72nd Street, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its ...

from 137th Street to 145th Street in

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...

, above the

. The river continues to flow under the structure. A key design consideration for the park was reducing loads to the structure below, so lightweight construction techniques were used wherever possible. The park was built over the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, which processes of wastewater every day during dry weather, and is designed to handle up to a day when the weather is wet. In order to minimize odors emitted by the plant, dedicated odor-control facilities have been installed at the plant, including $55 million in recent upgrades. The plant sits on 2,300 caissons pinned into bedrock up to beneath the river. Construction of the foundation was completed in 1978, and the wastewater treatment facilities were constructed in two phases between 1986 and 1991. One of only three state parks within

(the others being

Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt that celebrates the Four Freedoms he articulated in his 1941 State of the Union address. It is located adjacent to the historic Smallpox Hospital in New York Cit ...

), it has become one of the most heavily used state parks in New York. The site includes synthetic sport surfaces as well as several acres of "

green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and draina ...

s", with varying depths of soil supporting plantings and trees up to high. This is the largest green roof in New York City. The park includes an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

(home to the Riverbank Redtails swim team),, a covered skating rink for roller skating in the summer and ice-skating in the winter, an 800-seat cultural theater, a 2,500-seat athletic complex with fitness room, a 400m track, a 150-seat restaurant, community gardens, and a horticultural learning lab. Bicycling is strictly forbidden in the park but the

Hudson River Greenway The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...

passes at water level. A popular attraction is the ''Totally Kid Carousel'' created by

Maria Reidelbach Maria Reidelbach is a local food activist who engages in social practice, interdisciplinary art and writing. Her current work is focused on food and agriculture in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Current projects include ''Stick to Local Farms'', an inter ...

and Milo Mottola, featuring animals designed from neighborhood children's drawings. Children whose drawings were selected received a $50 savings bond as well as free rides for life.

References

External links

New York State Parks: Riverbank State Park

North River Treatment Plant page
{{authority control State parks of New York (state) Parks in Manhattan Hamilton Heights, Manhattan Manhattan Waterfront Greenway 1993 establishments in New York City Protected areas established in 1993

Park facilities

See also

References

External links